


Recovery

by smolfloofywitch



Category: RWBY
Genre: Angst, F/F, F/M, Injury Recovery, M/M, Mental Health Issues, im sorry for this, lots of feelings, mainly bumbleby, rwby volume 3 spoilers, the other ships just appear in some chapters
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-02-26
Updated: 2016-03-02
Packaged: 2018-05-23 09:45:13
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 3
Words: 4,208
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6112635
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/smolfloofywitch/pseuds/smolfloofywitch
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Yang Xiao Long shares her recovery story with us. Along the way there's struggles, love, hate, fighting, new and old friends. This is the road to getting out lovely firecracker back to her punny, free spirited self.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Realization

                It had been two weeks now since Ruby had left home accompanied by Jaune, Nora, and Ren. Weiss had sent us both letters, but since Ruby was gone, I went ahead and opened hers. It was almost sad how much Weiss seemed to miss us. By now, I had pretty much accepted that I would never see her or Blake ever again. Hell, I might never see Ruby again either.

                And why should I be surprised? My own mother abandoned me so why shouldn’t my friends and sister? Dad says that they haven’t abandoned me; that they have to find their own path for now. But what does he know? I got my arm sliced off for Blake and she just ran away without a care in the world for me or anyone else! All she’s ever done is ran away and unfortunately I had to lose my arm to get it through my thick skull.

                Mr. Ironwood wrote me promising a robotic arm free as a reward for helping protect Beacon and those near it. I’m not too happy about it, honestly. I wish I could go back in time and not have blindly rushed into that man’s sword. That’s what I get for being hot headed, I guess. I know it’s going to take time to adjust to the new arm and I probably won’t be as strong as I was. Maybe the whole huntress thing just isn’t for me.

                I’m pretty sure Weiss was forced to give up her pursuit of being a huntress, too, so I guess I’ll join her. Maybe I could get some cushy job in Atlas with her help. At least I’d know someone there, not that making friends was ever difficult for me. Though, who knows now right? I don’t know if anyone’s noticed, but I’ve changed a lot since I was first accepted into Beacon.

                Sometimes I dream about her. Her hair almost seems to engulf her face. Her pale skin contrasts with her ebony hair and I almost wish I could reach out and hug her. Sometimes the dreams aren’t so peaceful. Sometimes, I run towards her, just happy to see her and we hug. But that doesn’t last because I can feel her sharp blade in my back. I drop to my knees and she laughs at me. This is why I don’t sleep much. The dreams. If they’re good, I wake up hating her. If they’re bad, I wake up crying.

                For a while, the only thing I ever heard of Blake Belladonna was that she hadn’t been seen since the attack. I wonder if she went back to the White Fang or if she just ran away to try to escape all the chaos. I really can’t blame her. I would have run too if I were her, but that doesn’t make me any less angry at her.

                On this particular morning, I wasn’t too worried about Blake. I had received a letter from Ruby, telling me of her travels. It was comforting to know that she was doing pretty well despite losing Penny, Pyrrha, and pretty much our entire team. Guess she had a new team now.

                Dad brought me breakfast, asking if I wanted to go outside later. I wasn’t too sure about that, so I told him, “Maybe if I can get into the shower without passing out.” He nodded. It was hard to do little things and nothing hurt my confidence more.

                “Oh by the way, Yang, you have a visitor,” he told me.

                Immediately I got up, throwing on some clean clothes with a little help from him. He helped me put on my shoes and steadied me. It had to have been her. Blake. I missed her. I wanted to punch her. Please please please.

                When I made it to the front room, my Uncle Qrow stood there, to my disappointment.

                “Hey, firecracker,” he greeted. Just what I needed; a reminder of the Vytal Festival.

                “Oh, hey Uncle Qrow,” I greeted dully.

                He gave a chuckle and walked over to me. “Don’t sound so excited, kid. Don’t want you to jump up and down to see your favorite uncle.”

                I threw myself on the couch. “What are you doing here? Aren’t you supposed to be standing in Professor Ozpin’s place or something?”

                “I am. You’d know that if you wrote your sister more.”

                “Kinda hard to write when I’m right handed,” I snapped, holding up the stub that once was my dominant hand.

                “Stop pitying yourself, Yang. Would you rather have ended up like your red headed friend? You’re lucky to be alive,” he practically growled at me.

                It’s not like he was wrong. I swallowed thickly, looking down. “I know, but everyone left me! I’m not okay!” I rose to my feet to look him in the eyes. “I can’t fight. I can’t even get dressed without dad’s help!”

                He pushed me slightly and I was shocked. “So fight back!”

                “I’ve been fighting back my entire life!” I yelled. I could see my dad in the doorway, looking to the ground.

                “What made you stop? The Yang I know would continue to fight. She wouldn’t let this get in her way. She’d get that arm from Ironwood, strap that fucker on, and get to work! Do you know why I’m here? Why I stepped out of the beautiful chaos of the world to see my armless niece?” he asked. I didn’t answer. “Tai Yang is worried about you. Ruby is worried about you. I’m sure there’s plenty of others who are, too. You can’t lay in bed everyday and isolate yourself from everyone. You’re not getting stronger because you’re letting it beat you. You want to know why you still pass out in the shower or need help to get dressed? Because you’re not trying to do it yourself. You’re letting this weaken you.”

                Tears filled my eyes and I looked away. “You don’t know what I’ve dealt with! You have no right to say anything!”

                “Then fight back, Yang! If what I’m saying is pissing you off, don’t stand there and take it. You’re a coward.” He pushed me again and I fell back against the couch. “Everyone left you because you’re too busy focusing on the past than moving forward. Every member of your team is out there doing something; trying something! Anything! Even Blake!”

                My head snapped up to look at him when he said her name. The tears started to flow down my cheeks. “She ran away! She didn’t care about anyone! She’s not out there doing anything to help! She’s running!”

                “At least she’s moving! She ran away, Yang, but why haven’t you gone after her? Why haven’t you tried to find her? You found Raven once. If you can find her, you can find anyone.”

                “But you told me where she was!” I argued.

                “But you still looked for her for years, didn’t you?!” His words echoed in my head. “Sit there and cry,” he spat. “But that’s not going to help you or anyone. I have to go. I hope you get your spark back.” Without another word, he left.

                I sat there for seconds, minutes, hours, who knows, just sobbing. He was right. I knew he was. So you might be asking yourself why I’m telling this story. Well, I was pretty damn stubborn back then. Lost, hopeless, and had given up on life. I didn’t want to live. I didn’t want to try. I most certainly didn’t want to fight. But his words gave me that little spark I was missing.

                I was ready to fight again.


	2. Reconstruction

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Yang gets her arm and reflects on things.

                My Uncle Qrow and I were never close. During my childhood, he was in and out, never consistent. He would be there for me one moment and then off the next. I looked up to him, though. He was strong and always seemed to have a cool, calm attitude. I wanted to be just like him.

                When he came in and yelled at me to give me power, I tried my best to accept it. I told myself over and over that he was right. That I had to stop this bullshit self pity and just get my ass in gear. But that’s easier said than done.

                On the day Mr. Ironwood and some of his technicians came with my new arm, it was a particularly down day. By that I mean, he arrived around three in the afternoon and I said hadn’t made an effort to get out of bed. I lay there even when my dad told me of his arrival. I did not move except to shift slightly in bed to look out the window.

                I didn’t want to let anyone down, but more than that, I couldn’t push myself to get up. I couldn’t even sit up in bed when Mr. Ironwood asked me to. I lay there, dead eyes staring out the window. I wondered why I often just lay there and watched the window. It’s like I was waiting for something to come. Maybe I was secretly hoping I wouldn’t have to chase after her; that she would appear at my doorstep, apologize, and I would magically be okay.

                But this was reality.

               

When I woke up after the procedure, all I noticed was that my shoulder hurt. That’s all I could comprehend at that moment in time. I didn’t noticed that I wasn’t in my own room or that there wasn’t a window in sight. I didn’t notice that I couldn’t speak coherently because I was still hyped up on pain meds and the after effects of surgery. I didn’t notice running cold metal fingers through my hair or reaching for a glass of water with my dominant hand.

                No everything came so naturally. I went back to sleep and when I woke again, it was by a petite young lady in a lab coat. Her auburn hair was pulled back tightly into a neat bun. Her coat seemed a little too big for her and her smile greeted me.

                “How are you feeling, Miss Xiao Long?” she asked me; voice sweet as honey.

                “I uh… I’m okay,” I hoarsely croaked out. I cleared my throat and with her help, moved the bed so I was sitting up. “Where am I?”

                “You’re in the Atlas Hospital of Specialized Transplants.” We went through some of the standard tests and then she went off somewhere. I was alone again. Except this time, I began to notice things.

                The walls were white and there was a pattern in the ceiling. My shoulder didn’t hurt as bad as it did when I first woke. My mind felt foggy, but I felt as though I had some control over things. Like my arms for example. I stared at the robotic attachment to my right shoulder. How bizarre. It moved just how I wanted it to, but with a bit of hesitation.

                “Yang,” I heard my father’s voice and I looked up at him.

                “Dad, they did it!” I said, feeling a little overjoyed. How amazing was technology, right?

                “They really did, sweetie. Has the doctor been in yet? Did they tell you anything?”

                I shook my head. “No. Just a sweet little nurse.”

                He nodded and we waited together.

                When the doctor came in, she looked up at me and smiled. “Hello, Yang, how are you feeling? You went through quite the journey.”

                I shrugged and looked at my dad, then back at the doctor. “Okay. I feel kind of.. off.”

                She nodded. “That’s normal. You’ll experience this for a while until you fully heal. Until then, I’m going to need you to follow some very strict guidelines, okay?” I nodded and she continued on. “For the first two weeks, I would suggest limiting all activity that requires your arm except for small things like eating, drinking, writing, and such. After those first two weeks, you can slowly start to build up your strength again. I’d suggest going for runs, lifting weights, but nothing too heavy. You don’t want to strain the arm and mess up the healing process. After a month, you can go back to training. I’d suggest physical therapy first, though, to ensure you’re use to the arm. Your father tells me you’re an aspiring huntress. I, of course, already knew since I happened to catch your doubles match during the Vytal Festival. How are your teammates?”

                When she had stopped talking, I almost hadn’t noticed. It seemed she had so much to say in such a little time. I shrugged. “Uh, well, our leader is off somewhere. Weiss is in Atlas. Blake’s…” I trailed off. “Uhm, she’s, gone.”

                “Oh, I’m so sorry for your loss.” She gave me a frown and wrote some things down on her clipboard. “We’re not going to be releasing you for another few days. We want to monitor you and make sure everything’s going well. In that time, you’ll go through some simple exercises to get you better acquainted with your new limb. You’re allowed visitors, but no more than four at a time. Do you have any questions?”

                “No. Thank you, doctor,” I replied.

                “Yes, thank you,” my dad told her.

                With a nod, she went off to her next patient and I sat there in silence. Finally, my dad spoke up with a, “So is there anyone you want me to tell that you’re here? So they could visit?”

                I shook my head. “No one’s close and I don’t wanna bother anyone.”

                “But didn’t you just tell the doctor that Weiss is here in Atlas?” he asked.

                I paused. That’s right. She was in Atlas, but it was doubtful that her father would ever let her come see me. Maybe, though. It was worth a shot. “Yeah, you could contact her maybe?”

                He nodded. “I’m gonna run down to the food court and get something. Then I’ll contact her. Do you want anything?”

                “No, I’m fine. Thanks, dad,” I told him with a forced smile. He left and I was alone with my own thoguhts.

                _What if Weiss didn’t want to see me? What if Ruby never came home? What if Blake was dead? What if this new arm didn’t work out for me? What if I couldn’t figure out how to use it properly? What if I can never do anything ever again? I’m so useless. Pathetic. If Ruby was in my situation, she’d pull through with a genuine smile and talk about how excited she was to have a robotic arm. If Weiss was in my position, she’d be a little sour, but would probably push through it and become stronger than ever. Why can’t I be stronger? Why can’t I do normal things? Why is it so hard to be a person?_

Unfortunately, this was only the beginning of my struggles. I had no idea how bad it would get back then. Looking back on myself now, there’s a lot I wish I had changed. One thing I know I couldn’t change, though, is the crippling depression that ran my mind. I hadn’t known it yet, but I lost myself that day of the attack. I lost my faith. My hope. My everything. I lost control of myself and my own mind.

                The world isn’t like fairy tales. Sometimes, bad things just happen for no reason and you’re caught up in it. Sometimes, there’s nothing you can do but watch yourself drift away into darkness. There’s no light at the end of the tunnel because you’re not in a tunnel. No, you’re buried under the weight of the world and the only way out is up, but to go up, you have to sink down first.


	3. Rendezvous

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Weiss comes to visit Yang!

                Have you ever thought to yourself, “What did I do to deserve this?” or “Why me?” Well, I have. Countless times. That amount of self pity use to sicken me, make me hate myself more so. Now that I’m in a different frame of mind, I can understand that those questions help me grip onto my own sanity and move forward. Why me? Well, let’s move on to find out. What did I do to deserve this? Who knows? Maybe it hasn’t been done yet. Maybe it was something in a past life. Maybe I was cursed with this. Only one way to find out.

                But I know you’re not that interested in finding out why just yet. So I suppose I’ll get back to where we left off.

                Some of my days at the hospital I don’t really remember, honestly. It’s all a blur of agony and being so doped up on morphine that I couldn’t do much but lay there in a daze. Most of the memories I’ll share come from none other than my favorite little snowflake; Weiss Schnee.

                So this is what she remembers;

                It was a warm summer day, apparently. She made her way to visit me secretly, unwilling to let anyone know where she was going. Her father was busy working, so it wasn’t too hard to get away. She walked in and saw him -that idiot who picked a fight with her sister- by the front desk, most likely harassing the lady there. She went up to him.

                “Ahem,” she began, clearing her throat. “If you don’t mind, sir, I would like to sign in so I may visit someone. Please do not hold up the line.”

                He scoffed at her. “Well, well, well, if it isn’t tiny little Schnee.”

                She rolled her eyes and sighed, trying her best to ignore him. “Excuse me, miss, may I sign in and get a room number please?”

                The lady at the desk let Weiss do so, giving her a visitor sticker and making her sign in.

                “Hey, now, that’s not fair! You let her through, but not me? I’m the kid’s uncle!” he shouted.

                Weiss left in a haste before there could be any further confrontation. The lady argued with him and he argued back. Apparently, Tai Yang hadn’t quite liked how Qrow treated me before and he was put on the do not allow list.

                When Weiss walked in the room, she looked like spring; which was weird. She wore a summer dress with spaghetti straps and it had roses at the bottom. Her hair was pulled up in a messy bun. Her crown was nowhere in sight. She liked, really, really nice. Happy, bright, even.

                “Yang!” she greeted with a smile, running over to me. We hugged and I almost didn’t want to let her go. “How are you doing?”

                “There’s a question I’m starting to get sick of, but okay, I guess. How are you?” I asked in return because I really was truly interested. She didn’t tell me much in her letters about how she was doing. She just told me silly things. I guess it was her way of trying to cheer me up. I’d be lying if I said it didn’t help a little bit. In fact, her presence almost seemed to lift my mood entirely. I forgot about all my troubles and all I could focus on was Weiss Schnee, who had become one of my best friends.

                “I’m doing well,” she told me, taking a seat next to me. “I’ve continued training late at night when father isn’t up. If he caught me, he’d have a fit.” She glanced down and it hurt my heart to see her hiding her pain as always. “But that’s not really important. I’m so happy to see you. When your father told me you were in Atlas, I almost immediately climbed out my window just to see you right away.” We shared a laugh. “Oh, I brought you some things.”

                “Oh no no no. I don’t want any gifts. Your visit means a lot to me. It’s all I want,” I told her, holding up my hands.

                She stared for a moment at the robotic hand, looking mesmerized. She quickly snapped out of it and reached into her bag. “Now, now, Yang. They’re not just from me. I told everyone I was coming to see you and they asked me to give you these things. That’s why I didn’t come sooner. I’m sorry. I’ll visit more often now, though.” She pulled out a picture frame of all ten of us, Ruby, Weiss, Blake, Jaune, Nora, Ren, Pyrrha, Neptune, Sun and I from the Beacon Dance.

                Tears filled my eyes as I gripped the frame tightly. That seemed like a lifetime ago. We were all so happy. Everyone was smiling. Jaune, in a dress, dipping Pyrrha, who was laughing. Blake and I were hugging each other, making silly faces, and Neptune and Sun were mimicking our actions. Nora was holding Ren bridal style and Ruby was handing on to a laughing Weiss to keep from falling in her heels. Nothing could mean more to me than this picture.

                “Thank you so much, Weiss,” I quietly thanked, trying not to cry.

                She put a hand on my shoulder and smiled. “That was actually from Ruby. She wanted me to give that first. Here’s the note that came with it.” She handed me a piece of paper.

                _Yang! Hello!_

_Weiss told me she was coming to visit you in the hospital. I heard you got a cool, new arm. Anyways, I know I’ve been bad at keeping in touch, but I wanted you to have this. I’ve had the picture with me for a while and I asked Weiss to frame it for you. I think you need it more than me. I’ll be sending you more stuff sometime soon when I can find another post office! Also, you can get my new number from Weiss so we can call and message! Letters just aren’t fast enough for me. Anyways, I love you! Get better soon! Call me when you have a chance._

_With Love,_

_Ruby_

Ruby’s letter took me over the edge. Tears spilled from my eyes and I covered my face, getting tears all over the letter. Weiss was frozen for a moment before standing up and wrapping her arms around me, rubbing my back every so often. She just let me cry and I’m so very grateful for that.

                When I finally stopped, we cracked jokes and she gave me the rest of the gifts. Nora gave me a new pair of sunglasses. Ren painted sunflowers for me. Jaune wrote me a note and attached it to a teddy bear. Weiss gave me a necklace and promised me a shopping trip when I was able to leave.

                “So do you get to talk to Ruby often?” I asked in the midst of a conversation about jellyfish and peanut butter.

                “Oh, not nearly as much as I’d like, but we talk at least once a day even if it’s short lived.” She seemed kind of upset about that and I wondered why. Sure, Weiss loved Ruby and Ruby loved her, but she had always seemed so annoyed by Ruby.

                “Catch me up on her? I haven’t written her in ages and I’ll call her after you leave, but I want to know what she’s been telling you.”

                Weiss gave a nervous laugh and fidgeted with her necklace. “Oh, uh, she’s just been telling me about her travels. Telling me she’ll visit sometime soon I hope.”

                I laughed. “You two are a thing, aren’t you?”

                Weiss went bright red and her mouth opened. “Wh-What?! Why would you suggest something so! So!... Taboo!” she squealed.

                I couldn’t stop laughing. Weiss was a horrible liar. “It’s okay! I’ve known Ruby’s had a huge crush on you since the dance.”

                “What?! It’s been that long?” She did her best to cover up how happy she was, but I could see right through it. “She visited me a few months ago and that’s when everything happened.”

                “Half of me wants all the details and the other half doesn’t because you’re my friend and I wanna know, but that’s also my sister.”

                She waved her hands in front of her. “Nothing bad happened! We just hung out and kissed and she asked me to be her girlfriend. I promised her I would let her tell you so please act like you don’t know!”

                “Can do, Ice Queen,” I teased.

                The visit came to an end too soon when Weiss received a call from her father. She gave me one last hug and promised to be by again soon. She gave me her number and Ruby’s, then she was gone. My good mood seemed to vanish with her. I didn’t like being so alone. I wish she could have stayed with me and just talked forever, but I know how strict her father is.

                So, to beat the loneliness, I decided to call Ruby. No answer. I called four times and each time was met with her answering machine. Finally, I left a message, telling her to call me when she could. I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t worried. The last time Ruby didn’t answer her phone when I was calling she ended up being attacked by a Nevermore and then running off to find Pyrrha….gone.

**Author's Note:**

> Chapters will be short and probably spaced out! Sorry! I want to update once a week but lets see if that actually happens or not.


End file.
